It has been reported that the Greek Security and Intelligence Services have uncovered a secret network of people smugglers taking Somali refuges from Somalia to Greece via Istanbul. It is said that the Turkish state is responsible for overseeing the smuggling network and that it is potentially being run in order to undermine Greece and the EU.
The Greek NIS have said that among those institutions involved in the covert operations were the Turkish consulate in Somalia, the Erdogan Training and Research Hospital and City University. Since the discovery of the secret network by the Greek NIS, as many as 2,500 Somali refugees have been stopped from entering the country. Recent months have seen an uptick in the number of Somalis landing on Greek islands and claiming asylum.
Among the allegations levelled at the Turkish regime, under the control of Recep Erdogan, is that they encouraged Somalis to obtain fake degrees from Mogadishu University and that the Turkish regime provided them with fake documentation, including forged passports and IDs.
An advertisement at a travel agency in Mogadishu, Somalia, that was said to be involved in the trafficking network, read:
"Come and join our students and get a student visa for Turkey at reasonable prices and in a short time."
Also involved in the network is two non-governmental Islamic groups, one based in the UK and one based in Turkey. These organisations were said to act as cover for Somali refugees and that they have close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Turkish leader Recep Erdogan and his ruling AKP party also has close ties to the multinational Muslim Brotherhood. The fundamentalist group has existed for almost 100 years across the Middle East and has sought to replace the governments of these countries with regimes that align with their ultra-religious ideals. They temporarily held power in Egypt after the first Egyptian revolution but were later thrown out by a military coup. The group is banned in many countries.
The reason Turkey has involved itself in the people smuggling industry is two-fold. Firstly, Turkey has the opportunity to make significant income from people-smuggling industry, each refugee is said to pay around $1,500 for a trip. Secondly, and more importantly, people-smuggling advances Turkey's geo-political interests. Some believe that Turkey wishes to destabilise Greece and the EU and believes it can do so by pushing more and more refuges into these countries.
This isn't the first time that Erdogan's Turkey have used refugees to their political advantage. On a number of occasions over the last 6 years, Turkey has threatened to open its borders with the EU and allow the influx of millions of refugees and migrants if the EU did not acquiesce to various Turkish demands. In 2016, Turkey opened the borders after a vote in the EU Parliament was taken which sought to limit Turkey's influence in Europe and block any future prospect of Turkey joining the bloc.
Turkey has increasingly been seen as a pariah state under Erdogan, with journalists and opposition politicians jailed, and a wide variety of other human rights infractions being perpetrated by the Turkish regime both in countries neighbouring Turkey and in Turkey itself.
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